CSG promotes industry veteran Linda Russo to senior vice president of marketing. Russo has been with CSG since 1993 and has been involved in all phases of marketing communications for the national energy services firm and its clients.

China plans to subsidize purchases of alternative energy vehicles to expand domestic demand, boost the domestic auto industry and reduce emissions according to the Ministry of Finance. For passenger vehicles, the maximum subsidy for a hybrid vehicle will be CNY50,000 ($7300), for a purely electric vehicle CNY60,000 ($8775), and for a fuel-cell vehicle CNY250,000($36500). Subsidies for alternative energy buses will range from CNY420,000 ($61400) to CNY600,000($87,700) per vehicle.

Xantrex Technology Inc., a subsidiary of Schneider Electric, has signed an agreement with BP Solar, one of the world's leading solar companies. Under the agreement, Xantrex is supplying residential grid tie (GT) solar power inverters to BP Solar for use in its complete solar package solutions.

Boulder, Colo. - Entegrity Wind Systems recently completed the installation of 18 EW50 wind turbines in Nome, Alaska. The new wind farm is located in the Snake River Valley and is now Alaska's largest wind farm, producing 10 percent of the energy needs in Nome.

The Princess Elisabeth Station will be officially inaugurated in Antarctica on February 15th, 2009. This station is the only polar base operating entirely on renewable energies. It marks a major change as most stations rely on diesel generators because no wind turbines, until now, were thought to be robust enough for such extreme conditions. The turbines will endure the most severe weather conditions on Earth. They will be operating in average winds of 53 mph and winter gusts of over 200mph, while still providing 230V electricity for the stations heating, computers, lights and scientific instruments. The electricity generated is expected to be the highest output of any small wind power system in the world.

Currently, there is substantial amount of interest in this market (Building Integrated Photovoltaics) due to its high year on year growth, as well as an increasing number of countries which now have legislation supporting BIPV technology. The key to understanding BIPV market hot spots is pinpointing the countries that have passed BIPV-friendly legislation. It is no secret that the countries with this kind of legislation have seen the most growth. Led by Germany, and followed by Italy, France and Spain, these markets in particular are ripe for investment. Countries such as Greece, Portugal and Switzerland are moving in the same direction. Although still in the preliminary stages, these markets are something for investors to keep their eyes on as they are emerging into potential BIPV hotspots.

The Daleville (Ala) City School System is implementing $571,000 in energy efficiency enhancements designed to improve operations and comfort at its facilities. TAC Energy Solutions will complete the work as a performance contract and guarantees that the School district will save $34,000 annually

In a few years, photovoltaic solar energy will have become a competitive energy source in major markets in the world. Without the need for subsidies. This will be the start of a revolution in the world's energy supply and usage. Are we prepared for this?

Solar & Wind - Featured Product

In the monitoring of large photovoltaic (Utility Scale), in assessing potential sites (Solar-assessment), or in up and coming electricity cost saving initiatives projects (Commercial & Industrial), the WS510 now provides the market a secondary standard pyranometer, ultrasonic wind speed, ultrasonic wind direction, temperature, pressure and humidity all in a single unit.. This sensor meets the high demands of the world meteorological organization (WMO) through the active valving at air temperature measurement and the inertia- and maintenance-free measurement of wind speed and wind direction on the ultrasonic principle. Equipped with a Kipp & Zonen pyranometer of the secondary standards, the WS510-UMB Compact weather sensor from Lufft unites the precision of a variety of meteorological individual sensors in a single all-in-one device, for the first time.